Support for Local Administration Reform in Turkey (Impact Assessment Final Report)

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Impact Assessment Final Report
12.05.2020
Muhittin Acar, Emre Koyuncu, Can Okman, Eren Çağdaş Bilgiç
Component Component 2: Capacity Building for New Metropolitan Municipality Model and
Inclusive Local Governance Processes
Activity 2.1.1. Impact of the Implementation of Municipality Legislation on Local
Administrations
Output Impact Assessment Final Report
Local Administration Reform Project Phase III (LAR-III) is funded by the European Union under the IPA Funds. The beneficiaries of the
Project are the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. The Central Finance and Contracts
Unit is the contracting authority of the Project. Technical assistance for the implementation of the Project is provided by the United Nations
Development Programme. The content of this report does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union and UNDP. Responsibility
for the information and views expressed in the report lies entirely with the authors.

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents................................................................................................................................... 2
Figures and Tables ................................................................................................................................ 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................... 5
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 12
CHAPTER I. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSES ................................................................................. 14
1.1. Impacts on Local Administration Revenues and Expenses........................................................ 14
1.2. Impacts on Local Administration Service Indicators ................................................................. 19
1.3. Impacts of New MM model on Population Movements ............................................................ 21
1.4. Views of MM Mid-level and senior Managers on Local Administration Reforms.................... 22
1.5. Views of Households on Local Administration Reforms........................................................... 24
CHAPTER II. QUALITATIVE ANALYSES................................................................................... 32
2.1. Impacts on Relations Between Administration Levels............................................................... 32
2.1.1. Relations Between Central Government and Local Administrations.................................. 32
2.1.2. Relations Between Metropolitan Municipalities and Metropolitan District Municipalities 38
2.1.3. Relations Between Municipalities and Neighbourhoods..................................................... 42
2.1.4. Relations Between Municipal Bodies.................................................................................. 45
2.2. Impacts on Fundamental Elements and Principles of Administration........................................ 47
2.3. Impacts on Services [here] ......................................................................................................... 54
FOR CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 61
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................... 64
ANNEX 1. Analysis of Variables Affecting Perception on Metropolitan Municipality Reforms ... 69

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Figures and Tables
Figures
Figure 1. Amount of Treated Wastewater in Wastewater Treatment Plants (Per capita M3/Year) ...... 20
Figure 2. Amount of Treated Water in Potable and Non-potable Water Treatment Plants (Per capita
M3/Year) ............................................................................................................................................... 20
Figure 4. Population Movement in Villages by Change Rate, 30 Metropolitan Municipalities and 51
Provincial Municipalities by Year (2007 = 100)................................................................................... 22
Figure 5. Assessment of Impacts on Administration Principles............................................................ 23
Figure 6. Assessment of Impacts on Services ....................................................................................... 24
Figure 7. Impact Assessment of Main Provisions of Law No. 6360..................................................... 24
Figure 8. Overall Rating for “Development of MM System in Turkey in the Last 15 Years Was Positive”
............................................................................................................................................................... 25
Figure 9. Views of Households on Main Provisions of Law No. 6360................................................. 26
Figure 10. Differences Between Rural and Urban Neighbourhoods for Key Reform Areas of Law No.
6360 (Strongly Agree + Agree)............................................................................................................. 27
Figure 11. Differences Between Already Existing and Newly Affiliated Neighbourhoods in MM System
for Key Reform Areas of Law No. 6360 (Strongly Agree + Agree)..................................................... 28
Figure 12. Differences Between Old and New Metropolitan Municipalities in Key Reform Areas of Law
No. 6360 (Strongly Agree + Agree)...................................................................................................... 29
Figure 13. Views of Town Residents Who Lost Legal Personality on Key Reform Areas of Law No.
6360....................................................................................................................................................... 29
Figure 14. Views of Abolished Village Residents on Key Reform Areas of Law No. 6360................ 30
Tables
Table 1. Share of Local Administration Budget Revenues in GDP ...................................................... 15
Table 2. Breakdown of Local Administration Budget Revenue Items, % ............................................ 15
Table 3. Share of Local Administration Budget Revenues in GDP ...................................................... 16
Table 4. Breakdown of Local Administration Budget Expenditure Items, %....................................... 16
Table 5. Comparison of Some Expenditure Sub-Items between 2007-2013 and 2014-2019................ 17
Table 6. Change of Per Capita Apportionments Transferred from General Budget Tax Revenues in
Metropolitan District, Provincial, District and Town Municipalities.................................................... 18
Table 7. Variables Affecting Household Perception on the Reform and Impact Level ........................ 31

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Abbreviations
EU European Union
AYKOME Infrastructure Coordination Centre
MM Metropolitan Municipality
MDM Metropolitan District Municipality
DSI General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works
E-Municipality Republic of Turkey Ministry of Interior, Municipal Information System
GDP Gross Domestic Product
SWOT Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats
ILBANK Bank of Provinces Cooperation
KPSS Public Servants Selection Examination
LAR3 Local Administration Reform Support Project Phase III
OGM General Directorate of Forestry
SSI Social Security Insurance
SOYBIS Social Assistance Information System
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
WSA Water and Sewer Administration
TAKBIS Land Records and Cadastre Information System
TGNA Grand National Assembly of Turkey
WPI Wholesale Price Index
CPI Consumer Price Index
TURKSTAT Turkish Statistical Institute
UKOME Transport Coordination Centre
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
YIKOB Investment Monitoring and Coordination Department
YIKOM Investment Monitoring and Coordination Centre

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report addresses the impact assessment of local administration reforms that are performed under
Local Administration Reform Support Project Phase III implemented by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) with funding from the European Commission. Its beneficiaries are
the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, and it aims to assess the impacts
of the legislation and practices about MMs and generally the local administration system in the last 15
years.
The report drew from the results and findings of activities such as the survey of local administration
managers and households, focus group discussions, face-to-face interviews, workshops and from the
analysis of the data on local administrations and the relevant literature. The analyses are presented in
two parts. Chapter I “Quantitative Analyses” examines general trends with macro data while Chapter II
“Qualitative Analyses” benefits from face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, workshops and
the literature in addition to the relevant data, and assesses the impacts on the relations between
administration levels, fundamental elements and principles of administration, services, and offers some
recommendations in the light of these assessments.1
Chapter I Quantitative Analyses
Macro trends and views of metropolitan municipality (MM) managers and households on reform:
The Law No. 6360 revised the formula on the apportionments transferred to local administrations from
general budget tax revenues and enlarged the apportionments pool, but the increase in own revenues
remained limited. Changes in the sub-items after 2014 for the consolidated expenses of local
administrations are interesting and it is accordingly considered that this can be associated with the
generalization of MM model, and the mode of operation of the new model may have changed in order
to deliver services to the expanded geography. For example, compared to the period before 2014, the
maintenance and repair expenses of vehicles and construction equipment remain almost the same while
rental expenses increase, school expenses for maintenance, repair and furnishing decrease, and the
payments to consulting firms and individuals increase.
The changes in per capita quantities of water and wastewater are interesting as the indicators of those
services for which local administrations are among the primary agents for which data have been
regularly collected for 10 years though not signifying any result of the impact per se of local
administration reforms. Said indicators are positively distinguished in 14 new MMs compared to 51
non-metropolitan municipalities since 2014 and come closer to the higher results of other 16 MMs.
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A separate study will be presented later which will develop those recommendations more strategically and include a
framework for monitoring the reforms.

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It is observed that abolishing legal personalities of villages and towns in the places where MMs were
established and transforming them into neighbourhoods did not cause population change in these
settlements that could be defined as rural neighbourhoods. Villages and neighbourhoods that had the
same names were matched and thus the trends in the rural neighbourhood population were examined
annually across 30 MMs as of 2014, but they did not change remarkably after 2014.
In the questionnaire administered to mid-level and senior managers in MMs and through which
assessments on local administration reforms and especially on the Law No. 6360 were received, the
most favourable opinions on the fundamental administration principles were about effective service
delivery while the most unfavourable opinions focused on human resources. While the key reform areas
under the Law No. 6360 and reforms in MM bureaucracy are generally assessed favourably, the
transformation of villages into neighbourhoods is assessed unfavourably. In the assessments on services,
the issues of agriculture and animal husbandry, which can again be associated with rural areas, are
frequently cited among unfavourable ones.
It is observed that assessments of citizens on the Law No. 6360 are generally favourable. In this context,
key reform areas of the Law were assessed, which included transformation of villages and towns to
neighbourhoods, abolition of special provincial administrations (SPAs), expansion of MMs and
metropolitan district municipalities (MDMs) to the boundaries of civil administrations so as to include
villages and towns and assigning them with the responsibility of supporting agriculture and animal
husbandry. Positive perceptions are a little higher in rural neighbourhoods. Rural neighbourhoods find
it more favourably compared to the perceptions in urban neighbourhoods on the same issue that villages
were transformed into neighbourhoods and MM was expanded to the entire province so as to cover
villages and towns. When a comparison is made between 16 provinces which were already MMs before
the Law No. 6360 and 14 provinces where MMs were established for the first time, positive perceptions
are higher in 16 provinces.
Perceptions on the reforms are most influenced by the governance perception2
on the MM from which
service is received and it takes precedence over other factors such as satisfaction with services,
satisfaction with living in the city, age, income, adequacy of income and whether the place of living is
an MM.
Chapter II Qualitative Analyses
Highlights in the context of impact on relations between the central government and local
administrations:
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The variable of governance perception consists of nine questions. These are, with the main headings, about the performance
of municipalities on knowing the rules that they are obliged to implement and taking appropriate actions, equality of citizens
in their behaviours, providing accurate and sufficient information to citizens, participation of citizens and NGOs in decision-
making processes, having personnel in adequate numbers and capacity, using the resources efficiently, concluding services in
a reasonable time, seeking the public good and developing new solutions and ideas to enable citizens to live better.

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• It is assessed that the central government does not regularly and sufficiently use consultation
and participation methods and tools which consider experience and preferences of the key
stakeholders, especially municipalities, in legislative amendments concerning/affecting local
administrations.
• It is stated that making amendments in the local administration legislation in a manner giving
the impression that frequent and sufficient preparation and impact analysis are not performed,
not allowing adequate time to the relevant institutions for adaptation to the new legislation and
not planning transition processes with all aspects lead to significant problems in practice.
• It is criticized that some of the duties and powers entrusted to local administrations by reforms
are returned to the central government itself or provincial organisations of the central
government, at least making them more open to their intervention.
• It is considered as a positive development that the apportionments from general budget tax
revenues to local administrations increased with the Law No. 6360, and especially MMs had
the opportunity to produce more services and make more investments.
• It is observed that the Investment Monitoring and Coordination Department (YIKOB), which is
established in 30 MMs under the Law No. 6360, could not be appropriately positioned at
functional level in the administrative structuring in terms of central and local relations.
• Cooperation and coordination among central government institutions and municipalities are not
at the desired level.
• It is an important issue of complaints that such actions as permits, approvals and allocations
between MMs and some central government institutions spread over a very long time and
contain some uncertainties.
• There are deficiencies in data and information sharing among administrations.
• It is requested that some exemptions and privileges, which are granted to central government
institutions as of the public institution identity, should be granted to the municipalities as well.
• The deficiencies in the implementation of the constitutional principle requiring that local
administrations shall be provided with revenues proportional to their duties are expressed
especially in the context of unfunded obligations
Impact of reforms on relations between MMs and MDMs:
• The expansion of MM boundaries to provincial civil administration boundaries and MDM
boundaries to district civil administration boundaries with the Law No. 6360 brought some
similar advantages and disadvantages (in terms of the obligation to deliver services to a wider
area, planning of the transition and adaptation period, services intended for rural areas and
agriculture) both for MMs and MDMs.
• On the other hand, increasing powers and responsibilities of MMs in the new model compared
to MDMs are assessed in two different ways. According to the assessment most common among

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MM representatives, the new system made it possible to schedule and execute local investments
and services from a single source at the provincial level, thereby increasing efficiency and
providing an opportunity for benefiting from economies of scale. However, according to the
second opinion which is mostly supported by the managers of MDMs, division of powers and
responsibilities of the current system is quite problematic and it is necessary to review this
model which has such elements as defunctionalizing MDMs, taking centralization to the local
levels, preventing effective operation of the system in a holistic way.
• Considering that the existing approach of “shared powers and duties” regarding municipal
police services, social assistance, road networks and parks caused a series of problems in
practice, it is requested that for each service, an exclusive authorization and assignment should
be made only at one level.
• It is observed that the flexibility provided for transferable services between MMs and MDMs
has not been adopted sufficiently in practice. It is frequently stated that a new regulation should
be made on Article 7 of the Law No. 5216 in order to eliminate the conflicts and problems
regarding 'transferable services' (terminals, wholesale markets, slaughterhouses, cemeteries,
cleaning and numbering services) between MMs and MDMs which arose after the provision
made by the amendment to the Law No. 6360.
• It is considered that financial transfers and the regulations about apportionments between MMs
and MDMs affect the relations between local administrations adversely, and it is necessary to
subject relevant provisions in the existing legislation to a comprehensive review so as to clear
the system from such practices as the revenue sharing/transferring and offsetting.
• It is observed that there is significant deficiency of coordination and cooperation between MMs
and MDMs, and serious need for improvement and potential for development in this regard.
Impact on the status of neighbourhoods in the new MM system and their relations with municipalities
can be summarized as follows:
• Although it is intensely criticized by the experts, it is observed that abolition of SPAs and towns
in the MMs by the Law No. 6360 was not subject to a serious and widespread objection and
criticism by the practitioners in the field.
• The number of municipal managers disapproving abolition of village legal personalities is very
high.
• Services delivered to rural neighbourhoods increased with the introduction of new MM system.
• Municipalities that have focused on the delivery of urban services have adaptation difficulties
in relation to support agriculture and animal husbandry and the delivery of rural infrastructure
services.
• It is thought that the system introduced by the Law No. 6360 underwent the most difficult
process in the issues of planning and land development.

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• It is observed that neighbourhoods and masters (mukhtars) need to improve their relations with
municipalities.
• Although rural neighbourhood residents have positive perception on the reforms, this situation
is affected by the exemptions and exceptions provided to rural neighbourhoods.
There are two highlights in the context of relations between municipal bodies:
• Although the status of council has been strengthened especially through the reforms initiated in
2004-2005, a sustainable checks-and-balances relation has not been achieved between council
and mayor; the power division between council and mayor has increasingly tilted in favour of
mayor.
• The establishment and functioning of MM councils (for example, election method for
councillors, qualifications of councillors, ensuring fair representation in distribution by districts
and population) is the subject of serious discussions.
Impact on fundamental elements and principles of administration:
• Regulations made in recent years are generally assessed favourably from the strategic planning
perspective.
• Assessments on intra-institutional, intra-units coordination included in the MM managers’
questionnaire are less in numbers but mostly favourable. However, the picture obtained by focus
group discussions, face-to-face interviews and workshops show that duty, power and
responsibility overlaps/conflicts between some central government institutions and
municipalities and between MMs and MDMs make it an open-ended question or a problem by
what kind of organization and at which level the predominantly local services should be
delivered.
• It is assessed that the flexibility framework offered by standard job positions, which determine
the organizational scheme of local administrations, should be reviewed. Although it is
considered critical to employ experts and technical personnel for standard job positions in
municipalities, some main problems about human resources still continue in practice.
• Although the regulations on modern public financial management contributed to the
institutionalization of municipalities, and the expanded scale of MM contributed to the effective
use of resources from a single source, it is thought that the resources are not enough to discharge
the increasing responsibilities.
• Although a modern framework was provided in the field of audit with the reforms made in the
early 2000s, there are still problems in practice.
• The opinions expressed in the studies about transparency conducted under the project are few
in number but seem relatively appropriate.
• The situation seems a little different in terms of the participation principle. It is observed in the
studies conducted under the project that the regulations and changes in relation to local

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administrations in recent years have some positive features enabling the increase in
participation. Another issue about the participation is that the municipality model in MMs
abolished small municipalities and legal personalities of villages and combined them, which
caused increasing physical distance between the municipal administration and the public.
In short, in the questionnaire administered to MM managers, it is seen that the MM model envisaged by
the Law No. 6360 receive assessments that are favourable and effective, and this opinion is also
supported in the meetings and interviews.
Highlights in the context of impacts of local administration reforms on local services:
• High level of favourable assessments about transport services in the questionnaire of MM
managers are also confirmed by interviews and focus group discussions as well.
• Most of the favourable assessments made in the field of water and sewer are about delivery of
services from a single source at provincial level by the help of Water and Sewer Administrations
(WSAs).
• It is observed that the favourable assessments on planning and land development are mainly
associated with “the possibility of making holistic plans from a single source at provincial
level”.
• In the regions that were transformed from villages to neighbourhoods with the Law No. 6360,
the urban problems experienced in planning and land development are repeated and some
specific problems occur as well.
• It is considered that MMs and MDMs being able to take part in any kind of activities and
services for the purpose of supporting agriculture and animal husbandry with the Law No. 6360
caused municipalities to encounter planning and service delivery in an area of responsibility that
is beyond the classical/traditional urban services.
• At this point, it can be said that two main opposing trends stand out in the opinions about the
system introduced by the Law No. 6360 on supporting agriculture and animal husbandry.
According to the first opinion, authorization and assignment for agriculture and animal
husbandry services are highly broad, open-ended and a limitation and specification should be
introduced in this regard. According to the second view, provisions of the relevant legislation
provide a flexibility to the municipalities to prioritize and deliver their services and activities in
the field of agriculture and animal husbandry according to the needs and facilities of the
province/district, and it should be preserved as it is. In any case, it can be said that there is broad
consensus among municipal representatives about the difficulties posed by the new system.
• It is reported that the new MM system made important contributions to the improvement of road
and asphalt services.
• It is stated that the structure created in the field of waste management following the entry into
force of the Law No. 6360 allowed effective operations indeed.

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• It is observed that a significant expansion and diversity emerged in the last 15 years with the
social services and assistance delivered by municipalities.
• It is frequently stated that coordination deficiency and duplication in social services and
particularly social assistance constitute a serious obstacle to the use of available resources more
efficiently.
• It is reported that the investments in park, garden and green area services have increased in the
new system but there are still some deficiencies.
• It is argued that the formation and development of standards in the field of municipal police
services is at a considerable level following the entry into force of the Law No. 6360, but MMs
have not reached the desired level regarding the organization and efficiency in the surrounding
districts and rural areas, and the license inspections in the settlements that were transformed
from villages to neighbourhoods have remained highly inadequate.
• It is stated that there is a confusion of powers on business licenses regarding the licensing
services, and the licensor should also have the inspection responsibility.
• It is stated that gathering fire services at one source is a positive aspect of the new MM system
and this situation has contributed to increasing quality and quantity of the fire platoons and
increasing the efficiency in services.
• It is stated that funeral services have developed and the standards have improved in recent years,
but it is recommended that cemeteries be transferred to district municipalities.
As a result of the study, it stands out as a reasonable option to generalize the MM model to other
provinces, after assessing comprehensively the impacts on the practice and making necessary changes
in regulations for improvement. In the light of the acquired information and observations, we can talk
about three trends (/views) on this matter. According to the extent of agreement among practitioners
those views can be listed as follows:
• The practice should be generalized to all provinces provided that the existing system is
improved, some key deficiencies and problems are eliminated and such processes as the
preparation, transition and transfer and liquidation are planned well.
• Not all elements of the existing model, but only some (for example, more apportionments from
general budget tax revenues to WSAs and similar organizations, transferring a certain part of
the taxes collected in one place to the relevant municipalities) should be generalized to other
provinces.
• It is not correct to roll out this model, whose “design and operation are highly problematic”, to
other provinces.

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INTRODUCTION
This report was prepared in relation to the study on the impact assessment of local administration
reforms conducted under Activity 2.1.1 of Local Administration Reform Project Phase III (LAR3); the
project is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with funding from the
European Commission and its beneficiaries are the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Environment
and Urbanization.
The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of the legislation and practices of MMs and generally
the local administration system in the last 15 years.
The following data sources were used while preparing the report:3
a) Questionnaire for MM managers: It was administered online to mid-level and senior managers
of MMs between 7 October – 14 November 2019; and 577 responses were received from
approximately 1,600 mid-level and senior managers in 30 MMs and affiliated entities
(secretaries-general, assistant secretaries-general and division heads in the MMs, deputy general
directors and division heads in the affiliated entities, top managers of advisory and supervisory
units in both institutions).
b) Household Questionnaire: Questions about the views on the reforms were added to the
household questionnaire conducted under Activity 2.3.1 of the Project and whose main topic
was the awareness of disadvantageous group for urbanization and analysis of the needs of these
groups for accessing urban services. The questionnaire was administered between 18 November
– 30 December 2019 as face-to-face interviews in 10,382 households in the random sample that
was determined by TURKSTAT based on the entire population in 30 MMs.
c) Focus group discussions: Between December 2019 – January 2020, four meetings were held
with the participation of representatives from the central government and municipalities. These
meetings were held with the participation of 1) vice-mayors of MDMs, 2) MM councillors, 3)
senior mayors, councillors and bureaucrats who are not in office, and 4) relevant managers on
rural administration issues from MMs and MDMs. In the meetings attended by 197 people in
total, the impacts of the legislation and practices about MMs and generally local administrations
were questioned, positive aspects that were open to development were discussed.
d) Face-to-face interviews: They were conducted between 21 November 2019 – 24 January 2020
with mid-level and senior managers from four MMs and its affiliated entities in Ankara, Konya,
Manisa and Trabzon; six district municipalities (Municipalities of Ankara Polatlı and
Yenimahalle, Manisa Yunusemre and Akhisar, Trabzon Ortahisar, Konya Meram) and T.R.
3
The list of face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions and workshops held for the preparation of the report, and question
forms of the managers’ questionnaire and household questionnaire are presented in ANNEX 2.

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Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, T.R. Strategy and Budget Office of the Presidency,
T.R. Courts of Accounts and T.R. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. A total of 104 people
participated in individual and group interviews.
e) Workshops: Three workshops were held in February – March 2020. The workshops aimed to
discuss preliminary findings obtained from previous steps of the study and to continue receiving
feedbacks about the selected topics.
a. The first workshop focused on the roles of municipal affiliated entities and municipal
companies in governance and service delivery and it was held with the participation of
representatives from relevant MMs and affiliated entities.
b. The second workshop focused on the impacts of reforms on social services, with the
participation of MMs and MDMs.
c. The third workshop focused on generalization of the model to other provinces, with the
participation of representatives from MMs, provincial municipalities and SPAs of non-
MMs.
f) The literature of the period after 2014, when all articles of the Law No. 6360 entered into force,
was reviewed and findings about the impacts of legislation and practices were compiled.
g) The trends about local administrations through financial indicators, population movements and
various service indicators, the period before 2014 when the new MM model came into force,
and the changes were analysed; the topics that the model might have influenced were examined.
The report consists of two chapters. Chapter I addresses the assessments of managers and citizens for
the reforms in the context of the managers’ questionnaire for MMs and affiliated entities and the
household questionnaire; draws a general picture with population data, revenue and expenditure data
and the data about services; and examines whether there are differences in the trends following the entry
into force of the Law No. 6360. Chapter II categorizes the impacts of main legislation and practices
about MMs and generally local administrations, and presents the findings obtained from the literature,
interviews and discussions.
The study addresses these qualitative and quantitative data by reflecting the diversity of opinions about
the impacts of legislation and practices for MMs and generally local administrations. Accordingly, the
report presents findings by categorizing impact channels and includes findings and recommendations
for the strategic areas that will enable beneficiaries to ensure effective and efficient functioning of the
local administration system.

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CHAPTER I. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSES
This chapter analyses the impact of local administration reforms on the service production and decision-
making processes of local administrations, especially the expansion of the MM system with the Law
No. 6360, with the help of quantitative data about local administrations. The analyses based on the
indicators in this chapter make no pretensions to measure the impact of local administration reforms
alone, which show a thematically great variety. In order to reveal the possible patterns about the impacts
of said reforms, quantitative analyses should also be addressed in the report. Accordingly, the first
heading presents the trends in revenues and expenses of local administrations and the changes in the
local administration system in relation to their financial sizes between 2007-2019. Visible changes in
the revenue and expenditure trends before and after 2014 when the Law No. 6260 came into force with
its full content, are exposed on the basis of main items and sub-items. In the second heading, it was
aimed to examine the quantitative changes in local administration services. Among the limited number
of indicators that were compiled at national level so as to cover last 10-15 years and thus the change in
the time could be examined and that had qualitative aspect, the data about the amount of treated water
and wastewater per capita were examined in this heading. It is important for the analysis that the selected
indicators are about water and sewer administrations (WSAs), which is one of the indicative features of
the MM model. Accordingly, the change in the increasing trends of indicators before and after 2014 are
examined. The third heading analyses the change in village population in the provinces of MMs and
other provinces and examines whether the MM model has an impact on population dynamics. The fourth
heading assesses the electronic questionnaire where the opinions are elicited from mid-level and senior
managers of MMs and affiliated entities about positive aspects of reforms that are open to development.
The fifth heading analyses the perceptions of citizens about the basic practices of the Law No. 6360 and
the factors affecting these perceptions through the household questionnaire administered under the
project.
1.1. Impacts on Local Administration Revenues and Expenses
The Law No. 6360 revised the formula regarding the apportionments transferred from general
budget tax revenues to local administrations and increased the apportionment pool, but own
revenues did not increase at the same rate. The apportionments, which were equivalent to 1.36% of
the national income in 2007, increased to 1.98% in 2015 (Table 1). The apportionments constituted an
average of 37.3% of the budget between 2007-2013, while they constituted 45.9% of the budget between
2014-2019 (Table 2). However, it is not possible to say that the own revenues of local administrations
increased at the same rate. The own revenues fluctuating according to election years were equivalent to
2.06% of the national income between 2017-2013 on average while it was 1.95% between 2014-2019
(Table 1). The share of own revenues in total revenues decreased from 47.4% to 46% according to the
averages of the same period. (Table 2)

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Table 1. Share of Local Administration Budget Revenues in GDP
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019*
2007-
2013
Avg.
2014-
2019
Avg.
BUDGET REVENUES 4.03 3.90 4.25 4.62 4.55 4.41 4.61 4.26 4.18 4.19 4.30 4.24 4.19 4.34 4.23
Tax Revenues 0.42 0.42 0.38 0.51 0.49 0.46 0.45 0.45 0.46 0.47 0.43 0.39 0.40 0.45 0.43
Enterprise and Property
Revenues
1.02 0.92 1.06 1.03 0.99 1.02 0.99 0.88 0.89 0.91 0.90 0.82 0.79 1.00 0.86
Donations and Special
Revenues
0.52 0.52 0.59 0.77 0.74 0.66 0.77 0.34 0.34 0.31 0.33 0.40 0.34 0.65 0.34
Interest, shares, fines 1.82 1.85 1.99 2.08 2.07 2.07 2.08 2.10 2.26 2.23 2.37 2.32 2.43 1.99 2.28
Apportionment transferred from
GBTR
1.36 1.45 1.56 1.74 1.73 1.74 1.77 1.82 1.98 1.95 1.94 1.93 2.02 1.62 1.94
Capital Revenues 0.22 0.17 0.13 0.23 0.25 0.19 0.31 0.33 0.21 0.24 0.26 0.30 0.22 0.21 0.26
Debt Recovery 0.03 0.01 0.11 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.04
Own Revenues 2.14 1.93 2.10 2.11 2.08 2.02 2.07 2.10 1.86 1.93 2.03 1.91 1.84 2.06 1.95
Source: Data from the General Directorate of Accounts of Ministry of Treasure and Finance, and TURKSTAT, and analysis
by the Project Team.
Note: The last quarter of budget revenue data in 2019 was completed by estimating the average share of the previous three
years in total, and GDP for 2019 was obtained by using the annual growth rate announced.
Table 2. Breakdown of Local Administration Budget Revenue Items, %
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2007-
2013
Avg.
2014-
2019
Avg.
BUDGET REVENUES 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Tax Revenues 10.4 10.8 8.9 11.0 10.8 10.4 9.8 10.6 11.0 11.2 10.0 9.2 9.4 10.3 10.2
Enterprise and Property
Revenues
25.3 23.6 24.9 22.3 21.8 23.1 21.5 20.7 21.3 21.7 20.9 19.3 18.8 23.2 20.5
Donations and Special
Revenues
12.9 13.3 13.9 16.7 16.3 15.0 16.7 8.0 8.1 7.4 7.7 9.4 8.1 15.0 8.1
Interest, shares, fines 45.2 47.4 46.8 45.0 45.5 46.9 45.1 49.3 54.1 53.2 55.1 54.7 57.8 46.0 54.0
Apportionment transferred from
GBTR
33.8 37.2 36.7 37.7 38.0 39.4 38.3 42.7 47.3 46.6 45.1 45.5 48.1 37.3 45.9
Capital Revenues 5.5 4.4 3.1 5.0 5.5 4.3 6.7 7.7 5.0 5.7 6.0 7.1 5.3 4.9 6.1
Debt Recovery 0.7 0.3 2.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.8 0.2 0.7 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.5 0.9
Own Revenues 53.1 49.5 49.4 45.7 45.7 45.8 44.9 49.3 44.5 46.1 47.2 45.0 43.9 47.7 46.0
There is no visible change in the budget expenditures of local administrations on the basis of main
items after 2014. Budget expenditures of local administrations ranged between 4.1% and 4.9% of the
national income in the period of 2007-2019. The averages of 2007-2013 and 2014-2019 remained stable
(Table 3). On the basis of the sub-items, the share of personnel expenses in GDP and total expenses

16
decreased before and after 2014, while goods and services expenses increased (Tables 3 and 4). The
decrease in this item, which is mostly composed of the salary payment of civil servants, contracted
personnel and workers, is caused not by the reducing number of personnel but by lower real increase in
the salaries compared to the increase in other items.
Table 3. Share of Local Administration Budget Revenues in GDP
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019*
2007-
2013
Avg.
2014-
2019
Avg.
BUDGET
EXPENDITURES
4.47 4.62 4.83 4.50 4.38 4.41 4.84 4.12 4.26 4.65 4.86 4.93 4.65 4.58 4.58
Personnel Expenses 0.85 0.91 0.95 0.89 0.81 0.78 0.75 0.65 0.63 0.63 0.57 0.54 0.64 0.85 0.61
SSI Premium Expenses 0.13 0.13 0.15 0.16 0.14 0.13 0.12 0.11 0.10 0.10 0.09 0.09 0.10 0.14 0.10
Goods and Services
Expenses
1.34 1.44 1.55 1.55 1.59 1.67 1.75 1.59 1.77 1.87 1.89 1.88 1.96 1.56 1.83
Interest Expenses 0.07 0.09 0.15 0.12 0.09 0.09 0.08 0.09 0.08 0.09 0.11 0.14 0.21 0.10 0.12
Current Transfers 0.19 0.21 0.26 0.25 0.17 0.15 0.16 0.15 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.15 0.20 0.14
Capital Expenditures 1.79 1.75 1.53 1.41 1.42 1.49 1.86 1.40 1.40 1.60 1.92 2.01 1.47 1.61 1.63
Capital Transfers 0.04 0.02 0.07 0.03 0.08 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.05 0.04
Lending 0.06 0.06 0.17 0.09 0.08 0.07 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.16 0.11 0.09 0.07 0.09 0.10
Note: The last quarter of budget expenditures data in 2019 was completed by estimating the average share of the previous three
years in total, and GDP for 2019 was obtained by using the annual growth rate announced.
Table 4. Breakdown of Local Administration Budget Expenditure Items, %
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019*
2007-
2013
Avg.
2014-
2019
Avg.
BUDGET
EXPENDITURES
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Personnel Expenses 19.0 19.7 19.7 19.8 18.5 17.7 15.5 15.8 14.8 13.5 11.7 11.0 13.7 18.5 13.4
SSI Premium Expenses 2.9 2.8 3.1 3.6 3.2 2.9 2.5 2.7 2.3 2.2 1.9 1.8 2.2 3.0 2.2
Goods and Services
Expenses
30.0 31.2 32.1 34.4 36.3 37.9 36.2 38.6 41.5 40.2 38.9 38.1 42.1 34.0 39.9
Interest Expenses 1.6 1.9 3.1 2.7 2.1 2.0 1.7 2.2 1.9 1.9 2.3 2.8 4.4 2.1 2.6
Current Transfers 4.3 4.5 5.4 5.6 3.9 3.4 3.3 3.6 3.3 3.0 2.9 2.8 3.2 4.3 3.2
Capital Expenditures 40.0 37.9 31.7 31.3 32.4 33.8 38.4 34.0 32.9 34.4 39.5 40.8 31.7 35.1 35.5
Capital Transfers 0.9 0.4 1.4 0.7 1.8 1.1 0.6 0.7 0.9 1.1 0.8 0.8 1.2 1.0 0.9
Lending 1.3 1.3 3.5 2.0 1.8 1.6 2.1 2.4 2.3 3.4 2.3 1.8 1.5 1.9 2.3
The changes in sub-items of some expenses after 2014 are interesting and may be associated with
the generalization of the MM model.

17
The leasing model is adopted for vehicles and construction equipment. When the averages of 2007-
2013 and 2014-2019 are compared, the share of maintenance, repair and purchase expenses of vehicles
and construction equipment in total expenses and their share in GDP remained almost the same while
leasing expenses significantly increased. This situation can be considered as a sign that municipalities
are increasingly using the leasing method in order to provide services to the expanded geography (Table
5).
Payments to consultant companies and individuals have doubled compared to real prices.
Considering service procurement and capital expenditures, the share in total expenses and in GDP
increased by approximately 50% alongside the real increases. Almost the entire increase in the goods
and services purchase expenses, as shown in Tables 4 and 5, is due to the payments to consulting
companies and individuals. It is understood that the municipal system, which was rationalized by
reducing the number with merging and expanding the remit, frequently procures services in the service
delivery (Table 5).
Expenses of local administrations for maintenance, repair and furniture of schools have recently
decreased. The said expenses decreased by half compared to the averages of 2007-2013 and 2014-2019.
The reason can be offered as the impacts on priorities because of the expanded remit (Table 5).
Even though the real increases in personnel and premium expenses remained lower than the
increases in other expenditure items (Tables 3 and 4), the real increases in social benefits and
wages of civil servants and contracted personnel are remarkable. Expenses related to these items
increased by approximately 30% in terms of their share in total expenses and in GDP, and approximately
70% in real prices. In the new model, it can be argued that MMs and MDMs have made improvement
in social benefits and wages of civil servants and contracted personnel, with the contribution of the
growing scale and therefore the increasing revenues.
Table 5. Comparison of Some Expenditure Sub-Items between 2007-2013 and 2014-2019
Expenditure Item 2007-2013
Avg.
(GDP per
thousand)
2014-2019
Avg.
(GDP per
thousand)
2007-2013
Avg.
(Expend.
percent)
2014-2019
Avg.
(Expend.
percent)
2007-2013
Avg.
(real,
thousand
TRY)
2014-2019
Avg.
(real,
thousand
TRY)
Vehicle Purchase and
Repair Expenses
0.31 0.30 1.91 1.85 3,298,947 4,151,182
Vehicle Leasing Expenses 0.40 0.62 0.87 1.34 1,502,955 3,004,967
Construction Equipment
Purchase and Repair
Expenses
0.27 0.27 0.59 0.60 1,015,939 1,344,604
Construction Equipment
Leasing Expenses
0.14 0.23 0.31 0.49 532,036 1,096,915
Payments to Consulting
Companies and
Individuals
5.04 7.75 11.1 16.9 19,164,681 37,880,814
Maintenance, Repair and
Furniture of Schools
0.20 0.10 0.43 0.23 749,274 504,980

18
Social benefits and wages
(civil servants and
contracted personnel)
0.94% 1.27 2.10 2.77 3,624,195 6,188,801
Note: The first comparison in the Table shows the share of expenditures in Turkey's Gross Domestic Product per thousand, the
second comparison shows the share in total local administration expenses per hundred, and the third comparison shows 2020
prices obtained by using public investment program external money deflator and the averages of the periods.
Decrease in revenues is an issue mentioned by representatives of municipalities, which became
MDMs especially after 2014, in the meetings held under the project. This situation is not an
unanticipated conclusion but relates to the design of the new model. After the establishment of MMs
and WSAs in 2014, these municipalities do not provide water services, which is a regular cash flow
item. The apportionments transferred from general budget tax revenues, which is an important revenue
item for the said municipalities, also decreased due to the division of powers and responsibilities of the
model among MMs, WSAs and district municipalities4
. According to the simulation, it is estimated that
this decrease was 47% per capita for the new MMs. According to the same simulation, per capita
apportionments of the old MDMs remained almost the same while the apportionments of provincial,
district and town municipalities increased. Per capita apportionments of all municipalities except for the
MMs in the system decreased by 5% (Table 6).
Table 6. Change of Per Capita Apportionments Transferred from General Budget Tax Revenues in Metropolitan District,
Provincial, District and Town Municipalities
Before 6360 (TRY) After 6360 (TRY) Change
MDM (Old) 107 108 1%
MDM (New) 261 137 -47%
Provincial Municipalities 226 313 39%
District Municipalities 297 344 16%
Town Municipalities 299 414 38%
Total 166 157 -5%
Source: Prepared with the simulation data forming a basis for the study of Koyuncu (2012)
Note: Said simulation was prepared according to the population and financial values in 2011. The results of the simulation on
the basis of municipalities in relation to the change of apportionments can be obtained from the address in the references.
4
The Law No. 5779 on Apportionments from General Budget Tax Revenues to Special Provincial Administrations and
Municipalities regulates the general budget revenues shared with local administrations. According to the Law, 1.50% of the
total general budget tax revenues is shared with the municipalities which are not within the MM boundaries, 80% of this share
is distributed according to the municipal population and 20% according to the development index. 4.50% of the total general
budget tax revenues is allocated to the district municipalities in MMs; district municipalities allocate 30% of this share to the
MM, 10% to Water and Sewer Administrations according to the Law No. 2560 on Organization and Functions of Water and
Sewer Administration of Istanbul, which all WSAs are obliged to implement.

19
1.2. Impacts on Local Administration Service Indicators
The amount of treated water and wastewater per capita diverges from 51 non-metropolitan
municipalities in favour of 14 new MMs. The design of new MM model includes a decrease in the
need for coordination among institutions with the expanded geographic scope and abolition of small
municipalities and SPAs and therefore receiving favourable results on the services. There are two key
sets of statistics from which periodical and historical data can be obtained, among the services provided
from local administrations. These are water and wastewater statistics5
. The number of water and
wastewater treatment plants, their capacities and amount of treated water can be obtained from the
indicators compiled by TURKSTAT every two years. Accordingly, the indicators were compared for
16 provinces where MMs delivered services to a large part of the population though not the entire
province; 14 provinces where MMs were first established so as to provide services to the entire province
following the entry into force of the Law No. 6360; and 51 provinces where local administration services
were provided by SPAs, provincial, district and town municipalities. Figures in cubic meter of the treated
potable/non-potable water and wastewater in the province were normalized to the population of province
and analysed whether there was a differentiation between provincial groups over years. Accordingly,
while the relevant indicators increased in all provinces over time, 14 new MMs differentiated from 51
provinces after 2014 and the increase in treated wastewater and potable/non-potable water per capita
became faster (Figures 11 and 2). Although the investments in treatment plants are associated with the
guidance by the Ministry, Ilbank, EU Operational Program Environment, municipal access to other
external loans, prioritization and resource utilization capacity; this distinction is remarkable after 2014.
It seems possible to assert that WSAs which were established in 14 new MMs, embracing the issue and
putting it on the agenda, developing the enterprises of their facilities, using the unutilized capacity and
creating new capacity contribute to this field. Especially for treating wastewater, 50% of the energy
expenses have been met from the central budget since 2010. It is seen that this incentive made the
increase in indicators of 52 provinces, whose financial resources are more restricted, closer to the
increase in 14 provinces but although all treatment plants benefited from this incentive, 14 provinces
where new WSAs were established has favourably differentiated since 2014.
5
Not all wastewater treatment plants are operated by local administrations, but non-local administrations such as Organized
Industrial Zones and Free Zones also provide treatment of wastewater within their boundaries.

20
Figure 1. Amount of Treated Wastewater in Wastewater Treatment Plants (Per capita M3/Year)
Figure 2. Amount of Treated Water in Potable and Non-potable Water Treatment Plants (Per capita M3/Year)
9
15
18
20
23
26
46
52
61 61
63
67
18 19 20
24
31
35
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
51 provinces 16 provinces 14 provinces
12 12
15 16
18 19
43
51 52
54
58 59
13 13
15
18
22
25
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
51 provinces 16 provinces 14 provinces

21
1.3. Impacts of New MM model on Population Movements
Some of the negative criticism about the impact of the Law No. 6360 on rural areas is that the
system carried an urban regime to rural areas and this will accelerate evacuation of villages.6
According to TURKSTAT data, there is no population change that can be associated with the
change of MM system in the neighbourhoods which were transformed from villages in 20 MMs
and in the villages in 51 provinces. In 30 MMs, villages before 2014 were matched with
neighbourhoods after 2014 by using their names, and the neighbourhoods with the name change were
excluded from the analysis. On the other hand, population movements of the villages in 51 non-
metropolitan were examined. Accordingly, it was seen that the Law No. 6360 had no impact on the
population movement during the period between 2007-2019. While the population in 30 MMs remained
stable during this period, village population in 51 provinces decreased at a steady rate and decreased by
20%. In the following period after 2014, no visible change was observed in the population movement
of both groups (see Figures 3 and 4). However, it is remarkable in terms of population movements that
especially in the years when local elections were held, the population increased (before the elections)
and then decreased (after the elections) compared to the previous year which was taken the basis for
elections,. This situation can be seen more clearly in Figure 4 which shows the population change
proportionally. Linear lines in the Figures make it possible to see the general trend isolated from the
changes in election years.
6
For example, various arguments were expressed in the negotiations during the enactment process of the Law No. 6360 in the
Turkish Grand National Assembly. Accordingly, it was asserted that when the villages were transformed into neighbourhoods
of MMs, agriculture and animal husbandry would face serious risks; when the agricultural areas and pastures were opened to
land development, agricultural and animal husbandry areas would be contracted and the deterioration risk of the natural-
ecological balance would increase; as a result, 'more angus and more straw would be imported' in the new period, 'transported
animal husbandry after transported education' would start, the villages would be evacuated, the migration of the rural population
to the cities would accelerate with the weakening farming industry, decreasing number of farmers and therefore the decline in
agriculture and animal husbandry, which would trigger the growth of current social problems in big cities. See Acar and Yıldız,
2017, p. 21-22.

22
Figure 3. Population Movement in Villages by Total Population, 30 Metropolitan Municipalities and 51 Provincial
Municipalities by Year
Source: TURKSTAT ABPRS and analysis by the Project Team.
Figure 3. Population Movement in Villages by Change Rate, 30 Metropolitan Municipalities and 51 Provincial Municipalities
by Year (2007 = 100)
Source: TURKSTAT ABPRS and analysis by the Project Team.
1.4. Views of MM Mid-level and senior Managers on Local Administration Reforms
As outlined in the project terms of reference, the assessments of mid-level and senior managers in 30
MMs about the improvements and changes in the municipalities and local administration systems in
5,000,000
5,500,000
6,000,000
6,500,000
7,000,000
7,500,000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Neighbourhoods transformed from villages in 30 provinces
Village population in 51 provinces
Linear (Neighbourhoods transformed from villages in 30 provinces)
Linear (Village population in 51 provinces)
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Neighbourhoods transformed from villages in 30 provinces
Village population in 51 provinces
Linear (Neighbourhoods transformed from villages in 30 provinces)
Linear (Village population in 51 provinces)

23
general were received through the online questionnaire administered between 7 October – 14 November
2019. By two open-ended questions posed to the respondents, it was aimed to elicit opinions and
recommendations together with the justifications about the regulations and practices which were 1)
found favourable and/or innovative, 2) needed improvement or change. Responses were received from
577 mid-level and senior managers of 30 MMs and affiliated entities. Assessments which were obtained
by open-ended questions were digitized by coding as ‘positive’, ‘positive but inadequate’ and ‘negative’
in terms of fundamental principles of administration, services and main provisions of the Law No. 6360.
Findings of this study are presented below.
The first heading, where positive and negative opinions obtained from the managers’
questionnaire were categorized, is the fundamental principles of administration. In this context,
“effectiveness” stands out as the item that received highest favourable assessment under the
heading of the fundamental principles of administration, where the comments were categorized
expressing that the reforms produced the targeted results in terms of institutional structure and
services, they were successful, they were beneficial and made things better. Negative opinions
concentrated in the field of human resources. When the valid percentages of the responses were
compared, effectiveness (92%), transparency (79%), planning (74%) ranked in the top three in terms of
positive opinions, while human resources (22%), organization (29%) and audit (31%) are in the bottom
three. Human resources (52%) and financial management (41%) take the lead in thematic areas which
need to be changed and improved. The percentage (44%) of the responses coded as “positive but
inadequate” in the organization theme is remarkable (see Figure 5).
Figure 4. Assessment of Impacts on Administration Principles
Source: Analyses based on the online questionnaire administered to mid-level and senior managers of MMs under the project.
In the assessments about services, agriculture and livestock stand out as the service area for which
the reforms were evaluated as unfavourable. Four services were discussed for which sufficient
opinions were provided for the analysis. Accordingly, 54% of the opinions about the services of
supporting activities of agriculture and livestock, which was added to duties and responsibilities of MMs
92 86 79 74 67 60
32 31 29
5
0
16
15
21
27
37 44
3
14 21
11 17 19
41
31 27
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Effectiveness Accountability Transparency Planning Participation Coordination Financial
Management
Audit Organization
Valid
percentage
Positive Positive but inadequate Negative

24
by the Law No. 6360, are unfavourable. 77% of the opinions about transport services, 65% of the
opinions about water services and 65% of the services about planning and land development services
are unfavourable (see Figure 6).
Figure 5. Assessment of Impacts on Services
Source: Analyses based on the online questionnaire administered to mid-level and senior managers of MMs under the project.
The municipal bureaucracy generally makes favourable assessment about the key reform areas
of the Law No. 6360, however transforming the villages into neighbourhoods is noted as an
unfavourable practice. When all the opinions about various articles of the Law No. 6360 are evaluated
in general, it is seen that mid-level and senior managers of MMs found the changes favourable at
approximately 60%. Among all the managers who gave opinions, 17% found the changes in the Law
positive but inadequate while 22% found them unfavourable. Under specific articles of the Law, an
adequate number of opinions were received on four topics that could be analysed. Accordingly,
extending the boundaries of MMs to the boundaries of civil administrations is the most favourably
assessed topic (87%), while the transformation of villages into neighbourhoods is the most unfavourably
assessed topic (50%) (see Figure 7).
Figure 6. Impact Assessment of Main Provisions of Law No. 6360
Source: Analyses based on the online questionnaire administered to mid-level and senior managers of MMs under the project.,
1.5. Views of Households on Local Administration Reforms
Between 18 November 2019 - 30 December 2019, a questionnaire was administered to 10,382
households in 30 MMs based on the sample selected by TURKSTAT. The questionnaire was envisaged
77 65 57
39
10
12 19
7
13 23 24
54
0
20
40
60
80
100
Planning and land
development
Water services Transport Agriculture and animal
husbandry
Valid
percentage
87 85
67
31
60
2
13
19
17
11 15 20
50
22
0
20
40
60
80
100
Expansion of MM
boundaries
Abolition of town
municipalities
Abolition of special
provincial
administrations
Transforming
villages into
neighbourhoods
General
Valid
percentage

25
to be administered only to address the integration of disadvantageous groups with the urban life in the
project document, but it was associated with the citizens’ assessment about the impacts of MM system
and developed with the questions about reforms. Accordingly, the opinions about local administration
reforms were analysed according to the location of households (whether it was in the neighbourhood
transformed from village/town, or within the remit of an MM before 2014, or in 14 new provinces where
MM was established) in the survey and significant statistical differences in opinions were investigated.
Accordingly, in the question assessing the expression of “development of the MM system in Turkey has
been positive in the last 15 years”, 56% of the respondents agreed (Agree and Strongly Agree), 10% did
not agree (Disagree and Strongly Disagree). Although it did not cover the entire provincial borders
before the Law No. 6360, total rate of responses reached 60% when 16 MM provinces were examined
(see Figure 8).
Figure 7. Overall Rating for “Development of MM System in Turkey in the Last 15 Years Was Positive”
Source: Household questionnaire administered under the project and analysis by the Project Team.
Positive expressions about six main provisions in the Law No. 6360 were questioned in the survey and
agreement level of the respondents in these expressions was questioned on a five-point scale.
Accordingly, the expressions about the explanations made before questions and reform areas questioned
are as follows:
After the local elections of 2014, various regulations were made transforming some villages
and town municipalities into neighbourhoods, abolishing special provincial administrations
and establishing new districts. Do you think these regulations have made a positive contribution
to the improvement of the municipal system and services, please assess for each expression.
• Transforming villages into neighbourhoods was positive.
• Transforming town municipalities into neighbourhoods was positive.
• Abolishing SPAs was positive.
2.1
8.1
33.3
46.1
10.3
2.2
8.4
29.4
48.6
11.4
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
Strongly disagree Disagree Partially agree,
partially disagree
Agree Strongly agree
30 provinces 16 provinces

26
• Expanding MMs to the entire province by covering villages and towns was positive.
• Expanding district municipalities to the entire district by covering villages and towns was
positive.
• Assigning the responsibility of supporting agriculture and animal husbandry to MMs and
MDMs was positive.
It is seen that the perceptions about all reform areas are positive. The topic, about which negative
perception (Disagree and Strongly Disagree) is the lowest (17%) and positive perception (Agree and
Strongly Agree) is the highest (58.7%), is the transformation of villages into neighbourhoods. The
regulation, about which positive perception is the lowest (42.4%) and those expressing no opinions is
the highest, is the abolition of SPAs (see Figure 9).
Figure 8. Views of Households on Main Provisions of Law No. 6360
Rural neighbourhoods7
generally find the transformation of villages into neighbourhoods and
expansion of MMs to the entire province by covering the villages and towns more favourably than
the perceptions in urban neighbourhoods about this topic. Positive opinions about these regulations
in “rural” neighbourhoods with the village or town status before 2014 and urban neighbourhoods
affiliated with provincial, district municipalities or MMs before 2014 were compared. Accordingly, rural
neighbourhoods find the transformation of villages into neighbourhoods more favourable (64.5%) than
urban neighbourhoods (57.6%) but they have a different perception about the transformation of town
municipalities to neighbourhoods. Their positive perception about this topic decreases (44%) which is
7
Settlements that were in village or town status before 2014 and transformed into neighbourhoods with the Law No. 6360 are
used as rural neighbourhoods in the report.
6.3 6.4 6.6 6.6 6.6 5.6
10.7
13.9 13.2 12.4 12.6 11.9
18.0
24.5 22.9
25.1 25.8 25.0
38.5
34.4
31.1
35.6 34.6 34.4
20.1
13.5
11.3 12.2 12.4
14.5
6.3 7.2
15.0
8.0 7.9 8.6
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
Transforming
villages into
neighbourhoods
was positive.
Transforming town
municipalities into
neighbourhoods
was positive.
Abolishing special
provincial
administrations
was positive.
Expanding
metropolitan
municipalities to
the entire province
by covering villages
and towns was
positive.
Expanding district
municipalities to
the entire district
and towns was
positive.
Assigning the
responsibility of
supporting
agriculture and
animal husbandry
to MMs and MDMs
was positive.
Strongly disagree Disagree Partially agree, partially disagree Agree Strongly agree No idea

27
lower than the perception of urban neighbourhoods (48.6%) about the same topic. On the other hand,
inclusion of villages and towns within the remit of MMs is viewed more favourable in rural
neighbourhoods (51.2%) than in urban neighbourhoods (47.2%) (see Figure 10). There is a relation
between the propositions in relation to the expansion of MM boundaries to provincial administrative
boundaries, the transformation of town municipalities and villages into neighbourhoods and whether the
neighbourhood is rural or urban, however there is no significant relation in other propositions.8
It is
understood that rural neighbourhoods are not sensitive to the abolition of corporate entities of villages
or towns and they attach importance to being within the remit of MM compared to district municipalities.
In order to understand whether there was a difference in the opinions of former villagers and town
residents who closely experienced metropolitan services, the same analysis was not only performed in
all of the 30 provinces, but also repeated in 16 provinces which were already MMs. Accordingly, general
trends do not change and results differ at 1-2 percentage points the most.
Figure 9. Differences Between Rural and Urban Neighbourhoods for Key Reform Areas of Law No. 6360 (Strongly Agree +
Agree)
Neighbourhoods which were affiliated with MMs, in other words, receiving services from an MM
before the Law No. 6360 have a little higher positive perception about all the questioned
regulations than in the neighbourhoods which were newly affiliated with an MM. This comparison
was made between the neighbourhoods which were already receiving services from an MM before 2014
and the neighbourhoods which were affiliated with an MM after 2014. The most significant difference
8
Difference in propositions marked with (*) is statistically significant (chi-square test, p <0.003). In these propositions, there
is a relation between the responses of “Agree and Disagree” and whether it is rural or urban neighbourhood. Statistical relations
(correlations) are included in this note and the following figures. Correlation does not imply causality (cause-and-effect
relation) but it creates a starting point for further investigation of causality. For example, rural neighbourhoods having higher
positive opinions on some reforms than urban neighbourhoods may not be attributable to neighbourhood type. However,
determining the relation is a stage for determining the causality with the other research. If there is no relation, it cannot be
mentioned about causality. Causality can be demonstrated by running controlled experiments, i.e. keeping one variable constant
and changing the others. The dataset obtained through the scope and questionnaire does not allow running these experiments.
64.5
44.0
44.6
51.5
48.2
45.8
57.6
48.6
41.9
47.2
46.8
49.4
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0
Transforming villages into neighbourhoods was positive*
Transforming town municipalities into neighbourhoods was
positive*
Abolishing special provincial administrations was positive*
Expanding metropolitan municipalities to the entire
province by covering villages and towns was positive*
Expanding district municipalities to the entire district by
covering villages and towns was positive
Giving the responsibility of supporting agriculture and
animal husbandry to MMs and MDMs was positive
Urban Neighbourhood Rural Neighbourhood

28
is about the transformation of town municipalities into neighbourhoods (see Figure 11). Neighbourhoods
which were receiving services from MMs before the Law were a little higher than the others, which can
be explained by greater familiarity and observations about receiving services from MMs and MDMs.
Figure 10. Differences Between Already Existing and Newly Affiliated Neighbourhoods in MM System for Key Reform Areas
of Law No. 6360 (Strongly Agree + Agree)
Note: Except for the proposition to transform villages into neighbourhoods, differences are statistically significant (chi-square
test, p<0.025). In these propositions, there is a relation between the responses Agree and Disagree and whether the respondent
neighbourhood received services from an MM or not. Regarding the transformation of villages into neighbourhoods, there is
no relation between whether the neighbourhood was previously within the remit of an MM or not.
When a comparison is made between 16 provinces which were already MMs before the Law No.
6360 and 14 provinces where MMs established for the first time, positive perceptions increase in
favour of 16 provinces. The most significant difference is about the proposition that abolition of SPAs
was positive (see Figure 12).
58.3
44.4
40.6
45.7
44.5
46.6
59.0
51.3
44.0
50.0
49.5
51.1
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0
positive*
Neighbourhoods that were AFFILIATED to metropolitan municipality before the Law
Neighbourhoods that were NOT AFFILIATED to metropolitan municipality before the Law

29
Figure 11. Differences Between Old and New Metropolitan Municipalities in Key Reform Areas of Law No. 6360 (Strongly
Agree + Agree)
Note: All differences are statistically significant (chi-square test, p <0.001). In these propositions, there is a relation between
the responses Agree and Disagree and whether the respondent neighbourhood was in a province (16 provinces) that included
an MM in the past or a province where a new MM was established (14 provinces).
When responses of the neighbourhoods that were town municipalities before 2014 are assessed, it
is seen that positive opinions increased compared to the responses in 30 provinces while negative
opinions decreased. Old town municipality residents find transformation of villages into
neighbourhoods more favourable than transformation of town municipalities into neighbourhoods.
While the positive perception on the abolition of the village legal personality is 62% (Agree and Strongly
Disagree), the positive perception on the abolition of towns is 50% (Agree and Strongly Agree) (see
Figure 13).
Figure 12. Views of Town Residents Who Lost Legal Personality on Key Reform Areas of Law No. 6360
Note: The number of observations is 417. The differentiation for transforming villages into neighbourhoods and abolishing the
SPAs is statistically significant (chi-square test, p <0.035). In these propositions, there is a relation between the responses Agree
and Disagree and whether the respondent district was formerly a town municipality or not.
55.4
45.2
36.8
44.0
45.3
45.6
59.7
48.8
44.1
49.1
47.6
49.9
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0
positive*
Provinces that WERE metropolitan cities before the Law (16 provinces)
Provinces that WERE NOT metropolitan cities before the Law (14 provinces)
4.3 4.0 3.7 3.3 3.6 4.6
9.1
13.6 13.0 13.5 15.9
11.7
21.0
26.7 25.4 24.7 23.4
28.7
45.3
41.3
36.5
43.1
40.1 39.2
16.5
9.0 10.4 9.2
11.8 11.4
3.7 5.4
11.0
6.2 5.1 4.4
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
50.0
Transforming
villages into
neighbourhoods
was positive*
Transforming town
municipalities into
neighbourhoods
was positive*
Abolishing special
provincial
administrations
was positive*
Expanding
metropolitan
municipalities to
the entire province
and towns was
positive*
Expanding district
municipalities to
the entire district
and towns was
positive
Giving the
responsibility of
supporting
agriculture and
animal husbandry
to MMs and MDMs
was positive

30
Former villagers highly support the abolition of villages. The neighbourhoods which were formerly
villages find the transformation of villages into neighbourhoods favourable at the level of 55.7% (see
Figure 14). The rate of positive opinions across 30 provinces is 58.7% (see Figure 9). Positive opinions
about the questioned six reform areas are 1-3 percentage points lower in the neighbourhoods transformed
from villages than in general results. However, only the proposition to support agriculture and livestock
shows a significant relation between the views on reform areas according to being a former villager or
not. In the reform areas other than this proposition, for example on the issue of transforming villages
into neighbourhoods, there is no relation between being a former villager or not.
Figure 13. Views of Abolished Village Residents on Key Reform Areas of Law No. 6360
Note: The number of observations is 1006. Among the propositions, only the one stating that it is positive to give responsibility
of agriculture and livestock to MMs and MDMs is statistically significant (p = 0.038). There is a relation between those who
agree and disagree with this proposition and whether the respondents are from neighbourhoods which were transformed from
villages. There is no relation between the views on other reform areas and being a former villager or not.
The factor, which has the biggest influence on the opinions about reforms, is the governance
perception towards MM in the province. 10% increase in the governance quality cause 6% increase
at the rate of positive perception about reforms. It was analysed to what extent the perception about
reforms was affected by the questions about socio-economic status, satisfaction with MM services and
governance quality of MM which were included in the household questionnaire.9
In this context, the
indicators which show the impact on reforms in the most effective way are listed below. Sets of
questions, including six reform areas, were reduced to a single variable. Survey questions used for the
variables outlined below are shown in ANNEX 1:
9
Linear regression model was used, sets of many variables were reduced using factor analysis, and single variables were formed
by taking the average of the variables that constituted the factors. The selected variables explain 49.6% of the variation on the
reform perception. Details are provided in Annex 1.
7.2 5.8 5.5
7.0 6.9 6.8
14.1
18.5
15.6 15.0 15.1 15.5
17.1
22.7 23.9 24.5
26.8 25.9
37.9 37.3
32.9
38.1
36.3 35.4
17.8
9.8
7.5 8.2 7.7
9.7
5.9 5.9
14.6
7.3 7.1 6.6
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
Transforming
villages into
neighbourhoods
was positive*
Transforming town
municipalities into
neighbourhoods
was positive*
Abolishing special
provincial
administrations
was positive*
Expanding
metropolitan
municipalities to
the entire province
and towns was
positive*
Expanding district
municipalities to
the entire district
and towns was
positive
Giving the
responsibility of
supporting
agriculture and
animal husbandry
to MMs and MDMs
was positive

31
• D0: It is the average of the opinions on a scale of 1 to 5 (increasing from negative to positive)
about six key reform areas related to formation of the MM system under the Law No. 6360
(Dependent variable).
• D1: Satisfaction with everyday municipal services (Satisfaction with services): It is the average
of the satisfaction level on a scale of 1 to 5 (increasing from negative to positive) with eight daily
services such as water services, cleaning services, green areas experienced by all citizens.
• D2: Satisfaction with living in the city (Satisfaction with city): It is the responses on a scale of 1
to 5 (increasing from negative to positive) for the proposition “I am generally satisfied with living
in this city”.
• D3: Governance perception on municipality (Governance perception): It is the average of the
responses for nine questions about governance capacity and maturity level of MM on a scale of
1 to 5 (increasing from negative to positive).
• D4: Perception of households for their own income (Income perception): It assesses the
perception on household incomes on a scale of 1 to 5 (increasing from negative to positive).
• D5: Real income range of households (Real income): It includes real income ranges of
households on a scale of 1-10 (increasing from the lowest to the highest).
• D6: Whether the household is within MM boundaries (Old municipality): It indicates whether
the address where the household is located was in the MM system before the Law No. 6360; it
takes the value of 0 or 1.
• D7: Age of respondent (Age): It shows the age of survey respondents.
Table 7. Variables Affecting Household Perception on the Reform and Impact Level
Variables affective perception
on the reform
How much 10% increase in the relevant variable increases
the perception of reform on a scale of 1 to 5 (%)
D1: Satisfaction with services 1.84
D2: Satisfaction with city 0.99
D3: Governance perception 5.96
D4: Income perception 0.40
D5: Real income -0.10
D6: Old municipality (=1) 0.81
D7: Age -0.04

32
CHAPTER II. QUALITATIVE ANALYSES
This chapter addresses impacts of local administration reforms on relations between administration
levels, fundamental elements and principles of administration, and local services through the lenses of
the meetings, face-to-face interviews, survey, and literature review conducted in the scope of this study.
In addition to the impacts which were detailed with examples as much as possible, recommendations
obtained from the same data sources are also included in the chapter.
2.1. Impacts on Relations Between Administration Levels
2.1.1. Relations Between Central Government and Local Administrations
The legal and institutional framework introduced in 2004-2005 has a number of elements which
highlight municipalities in sharing duties and responsibilities, restrict/mitigate the central government’s
power of tutelage on local administrations. However, it is possible to say that this finding about central
and local relations is more complicated and controversial with new regulations and different practices
which have emerged over years.
Alongside the activities such as managers’ questionnaire, interviews, focus groups and workshops
conducted under the project, with the information and documents obtained by examining the relevant
academic publications on the subject, it seems reasonable to discuss findings and assessments about the
development of local relations and the current situation in ten headings:
1) It is stated that the central government does not regularly and sufficiently use consultation and
participation methods and tools which consider experience and preferences of the key
stakeholders, especially municipalities, in legislative amendments concerning/affecting local
administrations.10 It is considered that this situation may cause legislative amendments to remain
inadequate for responding to the needs in the field and being adopted by local actors as well as causing
prolongation/disruption of adaptation processes to the new regulations of local administrations.
Therefore, development of methods and mechanism which will increase participation and contribution
of local administration representatives to the legislation and policy development processes
10
For example, according to Özgür and Savaş Yavuzçehre (2016): “In Turkey, main legal regulations concerning local
administrations in general and MM in particular (...) are rather from top to bottom and participation and contribution of the
relevant selected and assigned senior managers are either limited or not clearly known. (...) In metropolitan laws adopted so
far, these are the common points: i) low participation in the law-making process, ii) rapid adoption of laws, iii) accepting the
central government as the only actor in law-making process.” (p. 923).
In the Eleventh Development Plan Private Specialization Commission Report on Local Administrations and Service Quality,
“inter-administrative relations” are also included in “problem areas for local administrations” gathered under 11 main headings.
In this context, “not receiving opinions of the relevant administrations during the legislative preparations concerning local
administrations” and the lack of coordination between local administrations, ministries and public institutions, the weak
communication and the delayed correspondence are considered as the problems about central-local relations. For details, see
Ministry of Development, 2018 p. 87-98.

33
concerning/affecting them closely should be considered as one of the priority items of the reform
agenda.11
2) As a related issue, it is about the facts that amendments were made in a manner that gave the
impression that frequent and sufficient preparation and impact analysis were not performed
about the legislation concerning local administrations, adequate time was not devoted to the
relevant institutions for adaptation to the new legislation and transition processes were not
planned with all aspects. Considering the fact that not enough importance was accorded to the
consultation processes with various institutions of the central government and local administrations in
respect of legislative processes, this situation may cause non-compliance in the legislation and
practices,12
and trigger inter-institutional disagreement and lawsuits. It may cause local administration
organizations to be caught unaware/unprepared against legislative amendments and have difficulties in
adapting to the new situation. Hence, it is observed that a substantial part of the criticism about the Law
No. 6360 (to date) was directed to the enactment process13
alongside the issues about transition, transfer
and liquidation.14
Therefore, it would be beneficial to improve the regulations to be made in local
administrations in the future considering stability and compliance in the legislation15
by planning
preparation and transition processes in a better way.
3) Another issue which is closely related to the former two issues but considered to be useful to
address separately is that some of the duties and powers which were left to local administrations
11
In the workshops held under the project, some criticism was made on the lack of adequate consultation with municipalities
during the preparation process of the Law No. 6360; but the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization stated that the opinions
and suggestions of all municipalities were received in the legislation studies on issues related to the delivery of routine and
continuous services.
12
For a more detailed discussion on this issue, see Oktay, 2016.
13
The draft was submitted to the Speakership of TGNA on 8 October 2012, discussed in the Internal Affairs Committee on 10
October 2012 and in the Internal Affairs Sub-Committee on 11-13 October 2012, and it was discussed again in the Internal
Affairs Sub-Committee on 14-21 October. Negotiations in TGNA General Assembly started on 6 November 2012 and ended
on 12 November 2012. In fact, the primary criticism about the enactment process of the Law No. 6360 is that it was enacted
very quickly, without sufficient debate in the general public and TGNA. For example, see the speech of Prof. Dr. Ruşen Keleş
(Ömürgönülşen and Sadioğlu, 2016, p. 23).
14
In the studies conducted under the project, it is observed that the processes of enactment and transition to the new system
were frequently criticized with various aspects in similar activities and academic publications conducted at different times by
different institutions and individuals in line with the Law No. 6360. It is stated that the Law No. 6360 entered into force without
forming the infrastructure sufficiently, planning and phasing the transition process effectively, and without calculating
compliance and coordination aspects adequately. Stating that the transfer, liquidation and sharing processes regulated in the
Transitional Article 1 of the Law were not operated fairly, transparently and effectively, and that the two-year preparation
period is not used effectively especially in the new MM provinces and districts; the said process was criticized with various
aspects such as personnel, debts and associations. For example, see Akıllı and Kızılboğa Özaslan, 2015; Arslan, 2016; Çöpoğlu,
2017; Pank, 2016; Tekin, 2018; Ömürgönülşen and Sadioğlu, 2016; Zengin, 2014. For example, according to Özgür and Savaş
Yavuzçehre (2016): “In the practices of MM administration which have been continuing for more than 30 years, handover
operations disrupt the functioning of the system, create compliance problems, cause discussions and cases, and divert the
attention of municipal administrations from the main actions. Especially with the Law No. 6360, handover procedures have
become more complicated due to the reasons such as the abolition of many local administration units and establishment of
water and sewer administrations.” (p. 924).
15
For example, Çöpoğlu (2017: 149) makes this assessment with reference to the representatives of MMs: “There is a
disconnection between municipal administrations and central government units due to the legislative differences. The laws
concerning central government units as well should be made compatible with the Law No. 6360.” In terms of the need for
compliance with the Law No. 6360, a series of regulations such as Provincial Administration Law, Village Law, Meadows Law
are provided.

34
by reforms (exclusively or predominantly) are to be directed to the central government itself or
provincial organisations of the central government, at least making them more open to their
intervention. In other words, there is a complaint about the prevalence of the phenomenon called “re-
centralization” in the literature. One of the examples consistently mentioned by local administrations in
various studies is that many central government institutions have gradually increasing and varying
powers and interventions about land development plans by the amendments made to the land
development legislation over years.16
It is considered that the current status of division of duties and
powers between central government institutions and local administrations regarding the use of land
development processes and tools which can be considered as the dominant factors of public policies
affecting the development and administration functioning of the cities is quite problematic.17
Therefore,
it is understood that a balanced division of powers and responsibilities is necessary to ensure that issues
such as determining fundamental principles, standards and priorities at national level and monitoring
and auditing compliance with them remain under the responsibility of central government units and that
holistic and sustainable planning decisions are taken by local administrations at local level.
4) It is considered as a positive and important development that the apportionment transferred
from general budget tax revenues to local administrations increased with the Law No. 6360, and
especially MMs had the opportunity to produce more services and make more investments. It is
also assessed mostly in the same manner that the apportionments transferred from the central
government to local administrations are mainly based on objective criteria such as population and
surface area and MMs have increasing opportunity for accessing to grant programs and loans. On the
other hand, as shown more detailed in the previous chapter, own revenues were on average equivalent
to 2.06% of the national income in 2007-2013 while they were on average equivalent to 1.95% of the
national income in 2014-2019. According to the averages of the same period, the share of own revenues
in total revenues decreased from 47.7% to 46%. Maybe, even more important issue is the existence of
such assessments that the increases in MM revenues following the entry into force of the Law No. 6360
are far from meeting the expanding service areas and responsibilities, and MMs became more dependent
on the central government in terms of revenue and resources.18
Therefore, it is necessary to introduce
16
“What is the problem? Central-local relations and conservatism of the central government are among the issues discussed in
every reform. (...) The central government refrains from granting some powers, acts conservatively and even engages in taking
these powers back. This is the biggest problem of our country. (...) We granted powers about planning to local administrations.
But our Ministers of Environment, except one, are strangely endeavouring to transfer these powers back to the central
governments, almost in an effort to establish a grand Turkey municipality. (Speech of Erol Kaya, Head of TGNA Public Works,
Land Development, Transport and Tourism Commission/AKP Istanbul Deputy of that period, Ömürgönülşen & Sadioğlu,
2016: 113. It should be noted here that Erol Kaya was the district mayor in one of the districts (Pendik) of Istanbul for 15
years). Moreover and especially, see Şahin, 2019.
17
Poyraz (2019) asserts that Istanbul MM that is obliged to deliver services to 95 percent of the population living within the
boundaries of the city has the power of planning only for 40 percent of the entire area in Istanbul, considering that almost every
ministry in Turkey has the power of planning on Istanbul.
18
The report “Strengthening of Local Administration Loan System in Turkey” that was prepared under Local Administration
Reforms Project Phase III (LAR3) (Activity A.1.1.2) has similar findings: “While the responsibilities of municipalities increase,

35
measures to increase own revenues of municipalities and to increase the apportionments from general
budget. In this context, it is recommended in the interviews and meetings held under the project that the
Law No. 2464 of 1981 on Municipal Revenues be comprehensively reviewed and renewed in
accordance with the changing conditions and needs. Another recommendation is to update and improve
the principles and procedures for the apportionments to municipalities from central budget tax revenues.
For example, it is requested to use (additional) criteria such as settled area criterion, geographic
condition (whether the land is flat vs. mountainous, etc.), coast/road length, summer-winter/night-day
population ratio and the number of refugees and immigrants besides the surface area while calculating
the apportionments transferred from the central government. It is also stated that it would be appropriate
to eliminate the problems arising from the companies paying their taxes not according to the location
where their facilities are located and they conduct their activities according to the MM where their
headquarters are located. Finally, recommendations are made on finalizing the obligation of
municipalities to allocate apportionments to other institutions from the taxes collected (for example,
allocating 10% apportionments of cultural and natural heritages from the property tax, apportionments
to development agencies from the municipal budgets).
5) It is observed that the Investment Monitoring and Coordination Department (YIKOB), which
was established in 30 MMs with the Law No. 6360, could not be appropriately positioned at
functional level in the administrative structuring in terms of central and local relations. The
opinions offered in the discussions on YIKOBs can be gathered under three subcategories. The first
category includes those people who roughly define YIKOBs as “the new version of SPAs without
general provincial councils, more dependent on/affiliated with the governor (hence the centre)” and
therefore who are contrary to the tendency/claim of strengthening local administrations/local
democracy.19
Those in the second category point out that YIKOBs were established to fill the gap in
monitoring and coordination of central government investments at the province level after the abolition
of SPAs, and argue that they should be made more functional for the needs arising in the field.20
The
their revenues remain at the same level and the majority of these revenues is composed of the shares from central budget
revenues. Under vertically unstable local financing conditions, a significant part of municipalities will soon lose their ability to
receive loans; and their unpaid liabilities to the public and private sectors will increase. (...) When considered in terms of
dependency to the central government, it can be seen that MMs and provincial municipalities are more dependent on central
budget shares than other municipalities.” (p. 7)
19
For example, according to Oktay (2016), “Decisions of YIKOBs on investments and some expenses are not subject to the
supervision of general provincial council as in the old system; therefore, it reflects the will of the central government without
the supervision of local politics on a large scale.” (p. 111). Moreover, see Belli and Aydın, 2017; Eldem, 2016; Esen, Güneş
and Ünal, 2014; Taşçıer, 2018.
20
Especially see the speech of Erol Kaya, Ömürgönülşen & Sadioğlu, 2016, p. 100. Administrative-functional status of these
new units, which were in the form of Investment Monitoring and Coordination Centres (YIKOMs) in the first version of the
draft and Investment Monitoring and Coordination Department (YIKOB) in the final version, has been discussed with various
aspects since the beginning of the process. For example, according to Özel (2016), 'if it is thought to have an alternative/reserve
power in the cases when there is disruption in local services' and in order to enable the central government to operate investment
and services effectively in the provinces, legal personalities should definitely be granted to YIKOBs. In fact, YIKOB's
becoming “the units with public legal personality and special budget” was realized with the Decree-Law No. 674 published in
the Official Gazette No. 29818-bis of 1 September 2016, and the amendment made to Article 28/A of the Law No. 3152.

Support for Local Administration Reform in Turkey (Impact Assessment Final Report)

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